Michelle Cooper's Blog, page 31

Inside a Dog and Book Giveaway

My new book, The FitzOsbornes at War is out now in Australia and New Zealand! Very exciting. I haven't actually seen it in any bookshops, but I'm told it's out there.

In other exciting news, I'm also Writer in Residence at the Centre for Youth Literature's blog, Inside a Dog, throughout this month. This week, I'll be explaining how to write a historical novel in seven easy steps. Come over and say hello! I'm giving away a signed Montmaray book to a commenter chosen at random, so you might even score a free book.

Keep Calm, Barnes and Aunt Charlotte

Barnes, long-time companion to Aunt Charlotte, doesn't really need a poster to remind her to keep calm, but here's one anyway:

Meanwhile, Aunt Charlotte is Not Amused by those little men in the government who think they run the country. Bolsheviks, the lot of them. In her day, they knew their proper place . . .

In Royal Blue, of course.

And that's it for Keeping Calm this week. I couldn't think of a poster for Simon – he's a bit too enigmatic to sum up in half a dozen words – but if anyone has any ideas, leave a comment below and I'll make one for him.

More Keep Calm posters:

1. Keep Calm, Sophie, Veronica and Toby

2. Keep Calm, Julia and Rupert

3. Keep Calm, Daniel and the Colonel

4. Keep Calm, Carlos and Henry

5. Keep Calm, Barnes and Aunt Charlotte

(If you've dropped in here and were wondering what this is all about, these people are characters in my new book, The FitzOsbornes at War, which is set in England during the Second World War.)

Keep Calm, Carlos and Henry

Carlos and Henry may be, respectively, a dog and a young girl, but that doesn't mean they aren't desperate to do their bit to defeat the enemy. They deserve posters just as much as the other FitzOsbornes, so here they are, thanks to Keep Calm-O-Matic.

First, Carlos the Portuguese water dog:

(He's already had some experience at biting Nazis.)

Next, Henry. Actually, keeping calm isn't really her thing:

Tomorrow: Barnes and Aunt Charlotte

Keep Calm, Daniel and the Colonel

More posters for friends of the FitzOsbornes, thanks to Keep Calm-O-Matic. First, Daniel, who may or may not be Veronica's boyfriend:

Then the Colonel, who gets a chance to be even more mysterious and secretive than usual during the war:

Tomorrow: Henry and Carlos

Keep Calm, Julia and Rupert

Following on from yesterday's personalised FitzOsborne posters, here are some posters for their dear friends, Julia and Rupert.

First, Julia, Belgravia socialite and wife of the Viscount Whittingham:

Julia can share that poster with her equally glamorous friend, Daphne, who has a larger role in The FitzOsbornes at War than in the previous books.

Then there's Rupert, friend to all animals in distress, but especially furry ones that meow:

Tomorrow: Daniel and the Colonel

Keep Calm, FitzOsbornes

During the Second World War, the British government was very concerned about keeping up the morale of its poor, beleaguered citizens, so the Ministry of Information produced a number of posters, including this one:

More than two million copies were printed, but the plan was that they'd only be distributed if Britain was invaded. This didn't happen (thankfully), so most of the posters were destroyed at the end of the war. However, one was discovered by Stuart and Mary Manley at Barter Books, who displayed a copy in their shop and then began making copies to sell. You can now buy 'Keep Calm' postcards, key rings, mugs, tea towels, mouse mats . . . or even design your own personalised 'Keep Calm' poster using the handy Keep Calm-o-Matic website.

I decided the FitzOsbornes and their friends deserved their very own posters, so here they are, thanks to Keep Calm-O-Matic. First, Sophie:

Well, she does tend to neglect her journal when her life gets busy.

Next, Veronica:

In Suffragette Purple, of course.

Then there's Toby, who enlisted in the Royal Air Force at the end of The FitzOsbornes in Exile:

Or possibly, knowing Toby:

Tomorrow: Julia and Rupert keep calm

How To Buy My Books If You Don’t Live In Australia Or New Zealand

A few North American readers have asked me how they can buy the Australian editions of my books, so here’s a list of some on-line booksellers who stock my books and deliver to overseas addresses.

A few notes: Due to territorial copyright laws, my Australian e-books aren’t available to readers outside Australia and New Zealand. Also, postage is very expensive in Australia, so ordering books from here isn’t cheap. On the bright side, non-Australian readers don’t have to pay the 10% sales tax that Australians do, so instead of paying the Recommended Retail Price of $18.95, you only have to pay about $17.00 (and most booksellers offer discounted prices as well). All prices below are in Australian dollars, and at the time I wrote this, one Australian dollar was worth about $US1.06. The FitzOsbornes at War goes on sale here on the 2nd of April, so the books probably won’t be in stock yet, but many of the booksellers below welcome pre-orders.

charges $15 delivery for one book (and an additional $10 for each extra book) for delivery to North America, with slightly higher charges for deliveries to Europe. I’ve never ordered books from them, but Abbey’s is a reputable, long-established Sydney bookshop.

Gleebooks charges $10 for a parcel of less than 500g, and $18 for a parcel of up to 1kg, for anywhere outside Australia. I actually weighed The FitzOsbornes at War (guys, the things I do for you!)

and it is slightly less than 400g, so even with packaging, delivery should only cost $10. However, that’s for an untracked parcel – you’ll need to contact Gleebooks for a quote if you want a tracked delivery service. As with Abbey’s, Gleebooks is a reputable and long-established local bookseller, but I haven’t ordered any books from them.

Readings charges “2 x weight (A 400g package will cost $AUS8) with a minimum freight cost of $AU7.95″ for deliveries to North America and Europe, so I guess delivery of one book would cost about $10, similar to Gleebooks. I know nothing about Readings except that they’re in Melbourne and they were “Independent Bookseller of the Year” in 2010.

Fishpond charges a delivery fee of “$11.68 + $3.86 per item” to North America (which I think means that delivery of one book costs $15.54) with slightly higher charges for delivery to Europe. I hadn’t heard of Fishpond until recently, and when I tried to find out more, I came across some unhappy customers. Has anyone else had any experience with Fishpond?

Shearer’s Bookshop charges $26 for delivery of one book to North America, with an additional $8 for each extra book. As with Abbey’s and Gleebooks, Shearer’s is a reputable local bookseller, but I haven’t ordered any books from them.

Booktopia charges $27.50 delivery for one book (and an additional $7.50 for each extra book) for delivery to North America, with slightly higher charges for deliveries to Europe. I have ordered books from them before and the books arrived promptly, in good condition – however, I live in the same city as their warehouse, so I can’t say how reliable or prompt their overseas service is.

The Book Depository delivers free to pretty much anywhere in the world. However, it’s a UK company and my books are not actually published in the UK, so they have to order my books from Australia, then send them to you, so it might take a while. Still, free delivery! (How do they actually make any money?)

There are lots of other booksellers in Australia, but I haven’t listed them because their delivery charges are so high (for example, Kinokuniya charges FIFTY DOLLARS to send one little book to the US). If anyone has any other bookseller recommendations, please feel free to add them to the comments below.

Of course, if you live in North America, you can buy the paperback edition of The FitzOsbornes in Exile, which comes out this week, simply by walking into a bookshop and handing over a ten dollar bill and a few coins. So easy!

STOP PRESS: The cover of the North American edition of The FitzOsbornes at War has just been revealed.

How To Buy My Books If You Don't Live In Australia Or New Zealand

A few North American readers have asked me how they can buy the Australian editions of my books, so here's a list of some on-line booksellers who stock my books and deliver to overseas addresses.

A few notes: Due to territorial copyright laws, my Australian e-books aren't available to readers outside Australia and New Zealand. Also, postage is very expensive in Australia, so ordering books from here isn't cheap. On the bright side, non-Australian readers don't have to pay the 10% sales tax that Australians do, so instead of paying the Recommended Retail Price of $18.95, you only have to pay about $17.00 (and most booksellers offer discounted prices as well). All prices below are in Australian dollars, and at the time I wrote this, one Australian dollar was worth about $US1.06. The FitzOsbornes at War goes on sale here on the 2nd of April, so the books probably won't be in stock yet, but many of the booksellers below welcome pre-orders.

charges $15 delivery for one book (and an additional $10 for each extra book) for delivery to North America, with slightly higher charges for deliveries to Europe. I've never ordered books from them, but Abbey's is a reputable, long-established Sydney bookshop.

Gleebooks charges $10 for a parcel of less than 500g, and $18 for a parcel of up to 1kg, for anywhere outside Australia. I actually weighed The FitzOsbornes at War (guys, the things I do for you!)

and it is slightly less than 400g, so even with packaging, delivery should only cost $10. However, that's for an untracked parcel – you'll need to contact Gleebooks for a quote if you want a tracked delivery service. As with Abbey's, Gleebooks is a reputable and long-established local bookseller, but I haven't ordered any books from them.

Readings charges "2 x weight (A 400g package will cost $AUS8) with a minimum freight cost of $AU7.95″ for deliveries to North America and Europe, so I guess delivery of one book would cost about $10, similar to Gleebooks. I know nothing about Readings except that they're in Melbourne and they were "Independent Bookseller of the Year" in 2010.

Fishpond charges a delivery fee of "$11.68 + $3.86 per item" to North America (which I think means that delivery of one book costs $15.54) with slightly higher charges for delivery to Europe. I hadn't heard of Fishpond until recently, and when I tried to find out more, I came across some unhappy customers. Has anyone else had any experience with Fishpond?

Shearer's Bookshop charges $26 for delivery of one book to North America, with an additional $8 for each extra book. As with Abbey's and Gleebooks, Shearer's is a reputable local bookseller, but I haven't ordered any books from them.

Booktopia charges $27.50 delivery for one book (and an additional $7.50 for each extra book) for delivery to North America, with slightly higher charges for deliveries to Europe. I have ordered books from them before and the books arrived promptly, in good condition – however, I live in the same city as their warehouse, so I can't say how reliable or prompt their overseas service is.

The Book Depository delivers free to pretty much anywhere in the world. However, it's a UK company and my books are not actually published in the UK, so they have to order my books from Australia, then send them to you, so it might take a while. Still, free delivery! (How do they actually make any money?)

There are lots of other booksellers in Australia, but I haven't listed them because their delivery charges are so high (for example, Kinokuniya charges FIFTY DOLLARS to send one little book to the US). If anyone has any other bookseller recommendations, please feel free to add them to the comments below.

Of course, if you live in North America, you can buy the paperback edition of The FitzOsbornes in Exile, which comes out this week, simply by walking into a bookshop and handing over a ten dollar bill and a few coins. So easy!

STOP PRESS: The cover of the North American edition of The FitzOsbornes at War has just been revealed.

Attention Aspiring Authors

If you're an aspiring author of children's or YA books and you live in New South Wales, you might like to check out the Children's Book Council's Frustrated Writers' Mentoring Program, which awards mentorships with a professional editor or published author. There are separate categories for writers who are Juniors (under 15 years), Young Adults (15-20 years old) and Seniors (anyone over 20 years), with entries closing on the 1st of June. Some of the successful Australian authors who've entered the program include J.C. Burke, Jacqueline Harvey, Kirsty Eagar, Oliver Phommavanh, Aleesah Darlison, Nathan Luff, Jenny Blackman and er, me. I won a CBCA mentorship in 2003 with Alyssa Brugman, and not only did Alyssa give me a lot of useful advice for improving my manuscript, she also helped me find a publisher and an agent for my first novel. So I think this program is pretty good.

The CBCA and the State Library of NSW are also getting together this year to offer four days of creative writing workshops for teenage writers, led by Anthony Eaton, Michael Pryor, Ursula Dubosarsky, Tony Thompson and the Bell Shakespeare Company. The first Master Class is on the 29th of March and you can find all the details here.

Same Book, But Different

There's an interesting post at The Readventurer about the significant differences between the North American and Australian editions of Cath Crowley's YA novel, Graffiti Moon*. The reviewer, who has read both editions, concludes that the American version "felt a bit…sanitized, which I didn't like."

Interesting. Especially as there didn't seem to be anything particularly edgy or controversial in the Australian edition of Graffiti Moon, as I recall.

American publishers do tend to change spelling and punctuation when they publish Australian YA books, and they also change any vocabulary that might prove confusing to American teenage readers. I remember reading the American editions of some YA novels by Barry Jonsberg and Melina Marchetta, in which the settings were clearly Darwin or the inner western suburbs of Sydney – yet the characters talked about 'dimes' and 'sidewalks'. Even J.K. Rowling's first book was subjected to Americanisation, with her American publishers making more than eighty changes to Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, including the title. (And some of the changes seem pretty silly to me – surely American readers could work out that 'multi-storey car park' means the same as 'multilevel parking garage'.)

For the record, the North American edition of A Brief History of Montmaray is very different to the Australian edition. Apart from a much-needed structural edit (for example, I completely re-wrote the final chapter), I spent a lot of time wrangling with my American copy-editor over words such as 'biscuit' and 'jersey'. This was complicated by the fact that my narrator spoke a posh 1930s British version of English. But The FitzOsbornes in Exile and The FitzOsbornes at War are pretty much the same (apart from the spelling), wherever you buy a copy in the world. Maybe my American editors figured that readers who'd made it through the first book in the series would be able to cope with the characters eating 'biscuits' rather than 'cookies', and using 'torches' rather than 'flashlights', and so on. Or maybe my editors just got tired of arguing with me.

*Thanks to Bookshelves of Doom for the link to the Graffiti Moon discussion.